Priscilla A. Spitler
2003 WINNER: Jury Prize for Binding

I received my BFA in printmaking at California College of Arts & Crafts in 1975, and my Bookbinding certificate from London College of Printing in 1980 - 81. In 1987, I took part in the Institute of Fine Binding/Conservation with James Brockman at HRHRC, Austin. Established as Edition binder at the Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, and BookLab, Inc., Austin, I founded Hands on Bookbinding studio in 1995. I have been a member of the Guild of Book Workers since 1983.

DESIGN PROPOSAL. Full leather, dark blue Harmatan #12 goatskin, in a traditional laced-on boards binding. Paste paper ends created by the binder, utilizing a leather joint construction. Sewn headbands, tooled spine title.
 
The proposed design captures the early journey of Huck and Jim, both escaping down the Mississippi River -- one from a cruel father and the civilization of his aunts, and the other from the cruelty of slavery. They are silhouetted by night travel. The journey breaks down the racial prejudice of its day, between the young white boy and the mature black man -- symbolized by the joining of hands in love and friendship. The design will use large areas of onlaid and back pared leather applied before the book is actually bound (the green trees and field area; Jim's hands). The design will be enhanced by painted acrylic, areas of cut colored foils, and inlaid leather lines.

SAMPLE BINDING. Dante Alighieri. The Stone Beloved: Six poems from Dante Alighieri. Translated by Harry Duncan, lithographs by Peter Nickel. Austin, TX: Kairos Press, 1986.
 
Full green, goatskin over laced-on boards. Paste paper ends by the binder. Design executed with painted foil stamped onlaid leather, tooling colored foils, and relief imagery. The motif illustrates the transformation of a woman, the object of the author's unreturned affection, from a vibrant beauty to a cold, heartless figure of stone. Bound in 2002.